Door handle and hinge assembly



Sept. 22, 1942. F, HUMER 2,296,672

DOOR HANDLE AND HINGE ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 24,y 1940 Srwentor Patented Sept. 22, 1942 2,296,672 DOOR HANDLE AND HING ASSEMBLY Frank Homer, Detroit, Mich., assgnor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application October 24, 1940, Serial No. 362,646

3 Claims.

This invention relates to automobile bodies and has particular reference to a novel combination of a door handle on one door and the hinge of an adjacent door.

In the prior art, it has been known to use hinges which extend outwardly beyond the surface of the door. The door handle also projects away from the door surface. In modern streamlining practice it is desirable to eliminate pro jecting objects as much as possible, but in some instances it is desirable or necessary to use a hinge which projects away from the body. It is the object of the present invention to combine the projecting hinge and the projecting handle into an adjacent relationship so that but one projecting object appears. This is accomplished by causing the hinge of one door to be positioned closely adjacent and abutting the han dle of the adjacent door so that the hinge appears to be a continuation of the end of the handle. The invention is particularly adaptable to four-door vehicles.

It is also an object of the invention to construct a novel hinge in which the hinge pin or hinge axis is positioned inside the door frame instead of on the door post as is usual in prior constructions.

On the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of two adjacent doors oi an automobile showing the combined hinge and door handle construction.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the .structure of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view with parts broken away and shown in section.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 of a modication.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through two adjacent doors of an automobile showing the novel hinge applied.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 2 indicates the front door of an automobile and the numeral 4 the rear door. The front door has secured thereto the handle 6 which has the end 8 thereof inwardly curved as shown and the other end provided with an enlarged part or head I0. The handle has secured thereto the shaft I2 rotatably mounted in a suitable bearing in the door 2 and having a squared end I4 which is attached to a suitable mechanism for withdrawing the latch bolt I6 of the door. The latch bolt I6 is adapted to engage back of the stepped keeper I8 secured to the center door pillar 2II in a wellknown way. The head or butt end I0 of the handle terminates in a rounded end surface indicated at 22 in order that it 'will not strike against the leaf 24 of the hinge 26 of the door 4 when the handle is turned. The other leaf of the hinge is indicated at 28. The leaf 24 of the hinge 26 is also rounded as indicated at 38 to mate with the rounded part 22 of the handle 6. The outer contour of the projecting part of the hinge leaf 24 has the same contour as the adjacent end of the head II) of the hinge so that the hinge appears to be a continuation of the head I0. The structure of the adjacent rounded ends 22 and 30 will enable the handle 6 to be turned without interference with the hinge, and the placing of the hinge lpin 32 at the extremity of the hinge leaves 24 and 28 will enable the door 4 to be swung without interference with the head IIJ and the handle.

In Figure 3 the hinge leaf 24 is shown as having the upper butt 34 which has a recess at its underside and the hinge leaf 28 provided with the butt 36 which has a projection 38 which extends upwardly in the recess in the bottom of the butt 34. The butts 34 and 36 are provided with openings which form bearings for the hinge pin 32, the lower end of which is threaded as shown at 40 and screwed into a correspondingly threaded part in the butt 36. In this form of the invention, the exterior surfaces of the hinge and handle are substantially coplanar so that the hinge appears exteriorly to form a continuation of the handle.

In Figure 4 the leaf 24 has the butt 34' which is substantially the full width of the leaf. The second hinge leaf 28' is forked at its end and has one tine 42 extending above the bearing part 34 and the other tine 44 extending below the bearing part 34. The hinge pin 32' passes through suitable openings formed in the butt 34' and the tines 42 and 44. In this modification of the invention, the extreme outer surface of the hinge and handle are substantially coplanar so that the hinge appears to form a continuation of the handleat its surface outermost from the vehicle body.

Referring to Figure 5, a novel hinge 50 is shown. The structure in Figure 5 shows the hinge applied to the adjacent doors 2 and 4 of a four-door automobile although the hinge can be applied to the front door 2 at the side opposite the handle 6. The front door has the overlap ange 52 and the rear door has the overlap flange 54. The center door pillar between the doors is indicated at 56 and the door post is suitably shaped to take care of the jamb face 58 on the front door 2. The pillar has the shaped recessed rounded part 68 to allow room for the overlap flange 54 of the door 4 when the door is moved from the closed position shown in the full line to the open position shown in the dotted lines. The recessed or shaped part 60 extends the full length of the pillar.

One leaf 62 of the hinge is positioned inside the door 4 and is substantially straight and has an eye 64 formed at its end. The other leaf 66 is positioned inside the pillar 56 and has its end 6B turned away from the pillar 56 and toward the door 4. The end 68 is likewise provided with an eye which underlaps the eye 64 of the leaf 62 and a pivot pin 10 passes through the eyes and forms the pivot on which the door turns. It Will be noted from an examination of Figure that the pivot pin is located Wholly within the plane of the door edge l2, which is the novel feature of the hinge.

I claim:

1. In combination with a vehicle body having two adjoining doors, a hinge projecting from the outer face of one door at its adjoining edge and a handle extending from the outer face of the second door at its adjoining edge and being contiguous to said hinge, the extreme outer surface of said hinge being substantially coplanar and merging substantially with the extreme outer surface of said handle when the second door is in its closed position to form a substantially continuous outermost surface, whereby said hinge and handle present a single projection extending from the outer face of the vehicle body, and having its surface outermost from the vehicle body substantially continuous and smooth when said doors are in their closed position.

2. In combination with a vehicle body having two adjoining hinged doors, a hinge projecting from the outer face of one door at its adjoining edge and a turnable handle extending from the outer face of the second door at its adjoining edge and bordering said hinge, the extreme outer surface of said hinge being substantially coplanar and merging substantially with the extreme outer surface of said handle when the second door is in its closed position to form a substantially continuous outermost surface, whereby said hinge and handle present a single projection extending from the outer face of the vehicle body and having its surface outermost from the Vehicle body substantially continuous and smooth when said doors are in their closed position, and the bordering surfaces of said hinge and handle interftting and being rounded to provide for turning movement of said handle without interference from said hinge.

3. In combination with two adjoining doors of a vehicle body, a hinge projecting from the outer faceof one door at that edge which adjoins the second door and a handle extending from the outer face of said second door at that edge which adjoins the first-mentioned door, said handle having an end substantially abutting said hinge and the exterior surfaces of said hinge and handle being substantially coplanar and merging substantially together when the second door is in its closed position, whereby when said doors are in their closed positiona single substantially continuous smooth-surfaced.projection is formed on the outer face of the vehicle body.

FRANK HUMER. 

